Earl Grey Tea Cakes
This week for poetry tea time, the children and I made a Earl Grey Tea Cake, and it was THE most delicious cake I have ever made and possibly ever eaten. That is a pretty big call but a truthful one! The taste was delicious, soft and moist and had the most wonderful flavours derived straight from the tea, rich orange, bergamot and a hint of a smoky yet lemony flavour, it was such a treat. We will absolutely be making it again.
Ingredients
- Just over 1 cup organic milk
- 5 Earl Grey tea bags
- 200 grams of organic unsalted butter
- 1 cup raw organic sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 eggs, at room temperature
- 2 cups Organic all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest, finely grated
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- Earl Grey Glaze
- 1 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 100g butter
- 3-4 tablespoons Earl Grey tea (strongly steeped)
- 1-2 drops of purple food colouring (for a lilac colour)
Steps
Place the milk in a small saucepan, and heat slowly until it is hot but not boiling. Add the tea bags and stir briefly. Cover with a piece of foil. Infuse the hot milk for 12-15 minutes, until the milk is a caramel colour and very fragrant. Pour the milk through a wire strainer into a measuring cup, to remove the tea bags. Squeeze the bags over the milk to extract all of the flavor. You should have 1 cup of milk. Cool until the milk is room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Grease an 8-inch square cake tin and line it with baking paper. Use an electric mixer to beat the butter, sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl until pale and creamy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Using a spatula, fold in the flour, lemon zest, baking powder and milk until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared tin and smooth the surface with the back of a spoon.
Bake for 1 hour until a skewer comes out clean .Leave the cake in the tin for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Earl Grey Glaze
For the glaze, place all the ingredients in a heat-proof bowl and melt over a double boiler until the icing is melted, glossy, and smooth. Cut the cake into even squares and cover entirely with the glaze. Let dry on a wire rack positioned over a baking sheet to catch the drips. Decorate with edible flowers. We used lavender and dried camomile.
